Earlier this month I read a nice article by Julie Scelfo, When Do They Need a Fig Leaf, published at New York Times.com. The article was an interesting discussion of the appropriateness of child nudity and modesty. Today I happened to read the following comment posted by a reader pertaining to the article which is provided her verbatim.
"To the Editor:
As a parent, I have a few observations and responses to your article. First, boys are just as modest as girls. There is nonsense floating around that girls are more mature and that it is therefore O.K. for boys to be nude at older ages.
Second, it is never appropriate for you to allow your children to be nude in front of visitors or other children without the knowledge of the parents. Even then, it is just plain wrong. Parents should encourage modesty, which usually starts around ages 4 to 6.
There is nothing healthy or cute in encouraging your children to be nude, or in just ignoring the behavior and hoping that they will grow out of it. As soon as one sibling starts noticing differences, clothing-optional behavior needs to be discouraged. I would be furious if my son or daughter went to a playmate’s home and there was nudity as described in your article.
Children are highly impressionable; what you allow, encourage or ignore will come back to haunt you. So parents need to grow up and be responsible. If you are a nudist and belong to a nudist colony or resort, obviously the situation is somewhat different, but please don’t impose your beliefs on the rest of us.
DARRELL V. HAMPTON
Rocklin, Calif."
What interests me about the above comment is the fact that while Mr. Hampton and many like him resist in his words, having nudists “impose your beliefs on the rest of us”, it never ceases to amaze me that he has apparently not the slightest hesitancy in attempting to impose his beliefs on the rest of us. He begins by lecturing the New York Times on what is and isn’t appropriate and then expounds on his own beliefs about what children should be taught about modesty. Mr. Hampton is entitled to his opinion just as we all are. Yet his comment illustrates the obvious internal conflicts and phobias he holds with respect to nudity which he was likely conditioned to internalize during his own “impressionable” years as a child, likely imparted to him by his own misguided parents, which causes him to see nudity as such a scary thing.
The fact that I am a nudist aside, I never think it appropriate to lecture others on such a personal issue as how to raise their own children. Since he alludes to the fact that he is a parent, I find it most unfortunate that Mr. Hampton is busily raising another generation of nude-phobic Hampton’s who sadly will likely never feel comfortable with their own bodies. My response is, Mr. Hampton please don’t impose your beliefs on the rest of us.
"To the Editor:
As a parent, I have a few observations and responses to your article. First, boys are just as modest as girls. There is nonsense floating around that girls are more mature and that it is therefore O.K. for boys to be nude at older ages.
Second, it is never appropriate for you to allow your children to be nude in front of visitors or other children without the knowledge of the parents. Even then, it is just plain wrong. Parents should encourage modesty, which usually starts around ages 4 to 6.
There is nothing healthy or cute in encouraging your children to be nude, or in just ignoring the behavior and hoping that they will grow out of it. As soon as one sibling starts noticing differences, clothing-optional behavior needs to be discouraged. I would be furious if my son or daughter went to a playmate’s home and there was nudity as described in your article.
Children are highly impressionable; what you allow, encourage or ignore will come back to haunt you. So parents need to grow up and be responsible. If you are a nudist and belong to a nudist colony or resort, obviously the situation is somewhat different, but please don’t impose your beliefs on the rest of us.
DARRELL V. HAMPTON
Rocklin, Calif."
What interests me about the above comment is the fact that while Mr. Hampton and many like him resist in his words, having nudists “impose your beliefs on the rest of us”, it never ceases to amaze me that he has apparently not the slightest hesitancy in attempting to impose his beliefs on the rest of us. He begins by lecturing the New York Times on what is and isn’t appropriate and then expounds on his own beliefs about what children should be taught about modesty. Mr. Hampton is entitled to his opinion just as we all are. Yet his comment illustrates the obvious internal conflicts and phobias he holds with respect to nudity which he was likely conditioned to internalize during his own “impressionable” years as a child, likely imparted to him by his own misguided parents, which causes him to see nudity as such a scary thing.
The fact that I am a nudist aside, I never think it appropriate to lecture others on such a personal issue as how to raise their own children. Since he alludes to the fact that he is a parent, I find it most unfortunate that Mr. Hampton is busily raising another generation of nude-phobic Hampton’s who sadly will likely never feel comfortable with their own bodies. My response is, Mr. Hampton please don’t impose your beliefs on the rest of us.
